Norwegian teenager Marius Thorp won this year's British Open silver medal as top amateur.

The 18-year-old from Oslo fired a one-under-par 71 at sunny Hoylake to finish the week on even-par 288, leaving himself seven strokes ahead of Italy's Edoardo Molinari.

Molinari, the only other amateur who made the halfway cut, closed with a 75. Thorp holed a 25-footer to birdie the last and finish level with his playing partner, legendary five-times Open champion Tom Watson.

"This is fantastic," said the Norwegian, who booked his place in the field at Hoylake by winning last year's European Amateur Championship.

"I played really well all four days and today I played with one of the greatest legends in the game. It's been a perfect day.

"Now I'm going to take a few weeks off now, having played two months in a row. I'm going to play the European Tour qualifying school in Spain later in the year and get some experience."

Watson was impressed by Thorp's performance. "I think he's a very good player and he's fearless with the putter," the 56-year-old American said. "I remember those days. God I wish I could do that now."